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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Assassin Bugs (Reduviidae) » Fitchia » Fitchia aptera
Photo#291974
Assassin Bug Lunch and tiny party crashers - Fitchia aptera
Copyright © 2009 Steve Kent

Assassin Bug Lunch and tiny party crashers - Fitchia aptera
Bay City State Park, Bay County, Michigan, USA
June 21, 2009
Size: 1/2 inch and down
I saw the assassin bug had a green bug. After two shots he moved off and I saw five tiny flies, the size of fruit flies, move in. The green bug was alive but barely moving. The flies climbed on and stayed there. There were several other types of insects on the same milkweed plant about 50 yards off the beach on the Saginaw Bay
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Assassin Bug Lunch and tiny party crashers - Fitchia aptera Assassin Bug Lunch and tiny party crashers - Fitchia aptera Assassin Bug Lunch and tiny party crashers - Fitchia aptera
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Contributed by Steve Kent on 21 June, 2009 - 10:45pm
Last updated 3 July, 2009 - 12:26pm

Linking
It is not a good idea to link different individuals as "same individual". The way to do it is by using the [thumb:] function. In this case it is a little tricky, with so many interesting interactions going on; but I separated them in the way that seemed most logical and placed them in the corresponding pages.
If you disagree we could make some changes or you may want to add something to the remarks on images 4 and 5, the ones with the flies.
… Beatriz Moisset, 3 July, 2009 - 12:36pm login or register to post comments

 
moving pictures
Thanks. I'm pretty new to the guide. Still picking up technique. But it's great to find a place where people enjoy bug pictures like I do. My family just tolerates me when I wander off into the brush with my camera.
… Steve Kent, 3 July, 2009 - 3:42pm login or register to post comments

Assassin bug
The assassin bug is Fitchia aptera. Spiracle color has been found to have diagnostic value in this genus (McPherson, Keffer & Taylor, 1992).
… drswanny, 22 June, 2009 - 10:56am login or register to post comments

The assassin might be Fitchia
find it in the guide here, while the flies are likely Milichiidae which can be found in the guide here, and the victim is Poecilocapsus, in the guide here.
… john and jane balaban, 22 June, 2009 - 9:07am login or register to post comments

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